What people are saying about President Obama's proposal to increase the minimum wage.

The Wall Street Journal,editorial: "In his latest attempt to increase the minority youth jobless rate, President Obama is proposing to raise the minimum wage. In his State of the Union Address, Obama proposed an increase to $9 an hour by 2015 from $7.25, and then indexing the minimum to inflation. ... In the real world, setting a floor under the price of labor creates winners and losers. Some workers will get a $1.75 raise. Great. But others — typically the least educated and skilled — will be priced out of the job market, and their pay won't rise to $9. It will be zero."

John Cassidy,The New Yorker: "If you look across the states, some of which set a minimum wage above the federal minimum, you can't see any sign of higher rates leading to higher unemployment. In Nevada, where the national minimum of $7.25 an hour applies, the jobless rate is 10.2%. In Vermont, where the minimum wage is $8.60 an hour, the unemployment rate is 5.1%. What these figures tell us is that other factors, such as the overall state of the economy and how local industries are doing, matter a lot more for employment than the level of the minimum wage does."

Ilana Novick, The American Prospect: "Obama first advocated an even higher increase of the minimum wage, to $9.50, though that plan was dropped amid the recession. Now that the United States is experiencing some recovery (it) may be a better time to push for a hike. If the latest round of wage hikes in individual states goes well, it will strengthen the (president's) case ... on a national level. CEO pay ... has never been higher. It's time for the government to ensure that ordinary workers better share the fruits of whatever prosperity is being created."

Bill Johnson,The Detroit News: "America would be best served if the president accommodated new and prospective businesses and eliminated government-sponsored impediments to real wage growth. Businesses, for example, are constantly burdened with unnecessary regulations, onerous zoning and licensing requirements, and high taxes. ... The best prospect for Obama's poverty agenda is a robust economy that bids up demand for labor. It would never occur to this president, but cutting the payroll tax would be an excellent way to directly increase workers' take-home pay."

Robyn Blumner,The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch: "Aren't conservatives always going on about the toll income taxes have on the initiative of people in higher income brackets? High taxes are a disincentive to working longer and earning more, they say. And don't those same economic rules apply to people in low income brackets? ... All it takes is a slight adjustment to the formula of how much revenue goes to owners and bosses, and how much goes to the people who get their hands dirty. Only government can make this happen since the private sector won't."

Christopher Matthews, Time: "While a minimum wage is basically a tax that discriminates against businesses that use cheap labor — like fast-food restaurants — the earned income tax credit could be financed through a broad-based tax that doesn't encourage one business model over another. A tax credit could also be targeted at the people who most need it: the working poor, who are on their own or raising a family. A minimum wage hike, on the other hand, would benefit some people it's not intended too, like middle-class teenagers with after school jobs."

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors.